fighting MISINFORMATION and bias

To mark the UN's International Day for Tolerance on 16th November, Learn2Think has created a fun, thoughtful and challenging programme that will help children spot misinformation, seek perspective, and resist indoctrination.

Free curriculum linked lesson plans, games, workshops, reading lists, activities and more are available. Specially written books will engage children in critical thinking around perspectives, religious tolerance, handling misinformation, the complex nature of truth/opinion/bias. Materials will be uploaded over summer 2017.

This year, for the first time, children are being encouraged to compete for the Young Journalist Prize. Run in association with the Guardian Foundation and The Week Junior, it is their chance to be the 'truth detectives' of their generation.

Special ‘whole school’ activities:Assembly – a special assembly to be delivered by Year 6 which looks at the political turmoil of the past year, and what we can learn from it.

Half Day ‘Truth detective’ workshops – age targeted games, activities and discussions that teach basic research and investigative techniques to help in getting as close to the truth of a story as possible.

Curriculum-based learning materials and lesson plans, including:

Tolerance Day reading list: reading for pleasure, platforms for discussion.

2 new books specially created for Tolerance Day 2017:

Chameleon BoyA colourful cartoon-inspired picture book for 5-8 year olds. It’s about a little Chameleon Boy (CB) from Lizardopia whose Dad’s new job means he is being forced to move, but CB has only heard and seen terrible things about mammals and Animalia. It explores fear of difference and change, and challenges children to analyse and assess the information they use to form opinions about the world.

Lesson plan:Assessing validity of sources of information and the dangers of misinformation

Who Made You the Boss?An adventurous political satire for 9-11 year olds.An illustrated chapter book, it reveals some good, some bad and some ugly ways of running things, and makes us realise that things are not always as they seem.“It has some fantastic characters that really make you think differently about what you think you know about how the world works,” Sophie, Age 11

Lesson plans:

Creative writing - Imagine a world without school; imagine the world of the future – how will it be governed and where will technology take us?

Utopias – exploring the idea of a ‘perfect’ political system/society

Lies, darned lies and statistics….

Lesson plans:

Statistics are everywhere – many are accurate and helpful but some are biased, distorted or outright lies. How can we see through some of the tricks by checking the source, the collection, the presentation?

Competitions and Activities:

The Learn2Think 'Young Journalists Prize', in conjunction with the Guardian Foundation and The Week Junior, entries by 16th October 2017.For the first time ever, we are holding a competition for children aged 8-9, and 10-11 to have their voices heard as the ‘truth detectives’ of their generation. We not only want to find out what matters to them, but also get them thinking critically, for themselves, so that they can start to identify misinformation, develop a reasoned argument, and give voice to their own unique thoughts and opinions. The prize, in both age categories, is to get their story published and receive a laptop to continue their writing.

‘A History of the World in 42 Moments’We are working with What on Earth? Books - publishers of the inspiring timeline books - to ask children to step back and connect the dots of the past. In a free downloadable poster, they will fill in what they consider to be the 42 key moments of history, 7 for each region of the world, and restore context and perspective to the history of the world.

'Win a session at the Guardian Education Centre'. Primary schools can win a day’s workshop for up to 30 pupils at the award-winning Guardian Education Centre on Tolerance Day, 16th November 2017. Pupils will get to interview a journalist and interact with the news and gain a real understanding of what it is like to work in a busy news gathering organisation. Tweet @tolerancedayuk with why your school should should win using #truthdetectives

An archive of valuable tolerance and diversity related lesson plans from 2016 are available at www.toleranceday.org.